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Freeze-Dried Blood May Save Soldiers' Lives

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the we've-mixed-blood-into-this-man's-coffee dept.

SpaceAdmiral writes "An Israeli company is working on a method to freeze-dry blood. This would enable soldiers to carry a packet of their own blood on the battlefield. If a soldier is injured and needs blood, medics could mix the dried blood with water and give the soldier a transfusion of his or her own blood. From the article: 'The idea is to take a soldier's blood, freeze it in laboratory conditions, take out the ice crystals leaving only the blood components. It will look like freeze-dried coffee in a little bag.'"

11 of 140 comments (clear)

  1. Two technologies by andrewman327 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Polyheme is an artificial blood that is in the final stages of field testing in the USA. Taken together, these two technologies promise to significantly reduce deaths caused by trauma on the battlefields and highways.

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    Information wants a fueled airplane waiting at the hangar and no one gets hurt.
    1. Re:Two technologies by TubeSteak · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Polyheme also happens to be the stuff that they tested on accident victims without consent .

      They used it in ambulances under some exception to the general rule requiring informed consent for clinical trials.

      You can read more about it by poking around Google
      http://www.google.com/search?q=polyheme+consent
      There was a big ethical brouhaha when the testing made the papers.

      So, when you say "final stages of field testing" you really mean
      "used on accident victims without their permission."

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
    2. Re:Two technologies by theelectron · · Score: 3, Insightful

      So, if you were passed out from a heart attack and couldn't give anyone 'consent' and an EMS rolls up with paramedics who are certified in CPR they wouldn't be saving the person's life, they would be "using CPR on a victim without their permission"?

    3. Re:Two technologies by andrewman327 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Actually, that is exactly what I meant. As an EMT I am required to know the law. People's lives were saved in these informed consent trials. The people who really need this stuff are in no position to sign anything. It is designed for people who will die without it, so what's the problem?

      --
      Information wants a fueled airplane waiting at the hangar and no one gets hurt.
    4. Re:Two technologies by SpeedBump0619 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Hey I can play that game too:

      So, instead of "used on accident victims without their permission" what you advocate is "withheld from dying people because they couldn't say yes."

      Explain to me how that's better. I agree that oversight is needed for such a program. But the rules of the program only allow it in critical cases where no alternative is available. The only thing that bothers me about it is the continuation of its use once in the hospital.

      If you are going to complain about this trial, don't just take one aspect of it in isolation and whine about that. Yes, no prior consent is received...but it only matters in cases where option 'b' is die.

  2. funny how the eyes work.. by MrShaggy · · Score: 3, Funny

    when I read the above title; 'freeze-dried bloody mary's may save soldiers lives.'

    My heart was racing.

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    I have mod points and I am not afraid to use them.
  3. Re:My hope by JesseL · · Score: 4, Funny

    Vampires would love it though.

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    "Prefiero morir de pie que vivir siempre arrodillado!"
  4. Re:OKay... by Bot+Jockey · · Score: 3, Funny

    We've secretly replaced this soldier's freeze-dried blood with Folger's crystals... let's watch!

  5. Re:OKay... by Donut2099 · · Score: 4, Funny

    'Tom never has a second transfusion at home...'

  6. Old idea and a difficult problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    This is an idea that has been around for a long time, but as far as I know no one has gotten it to work. The problem is probably that biological membranes have a hydrophilic surface and a hydrophobic core. In water they are happy that way - the hydrophobic part hidden from the water - but once the water is removed - then they are completely unstable (air/vacuum is effectively hydrophobic). Rehydrating probably gives some incredible mess of membranes. One can add molecules like sugars to try to compensate for the loss of water, but the fact that this was not done 20 years ago tells me that must not be enough - and that there is not some trivial answer. I did not see anything in the article that made me think that these guys had some break through concept.

  7. Minute Maid Orange Juice by pacalis · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This is what National Research Corporation, an MIT incubator, aimed to do in the 1940s ... It didn't work then becuase the cells wouldn't survive, but maybe they can aim for some good OJ. http://www.minutemaid.com/aboutus/history.shtml